The girl with Pink Hair

Chapter Eleven

Sakura, Carver, Raiden with team seven set out of the leaf village in the early morning through one of Sakura's seals. She could transport them as far as a small town which was under Sakura's protection, but they still had a day's walk until they reached Brasle who were not responding to Sakura's phone calls. No one had been able to reach the small town since they reached out to Dawn inside the Waterfall Village.

Sakura led the group ignoring the conversation behind her. The path they must take to Brasle was an easy one, they didn't need to climb hills or hike through thick forests. The worst the team had to do is walk over an old rope bridge which hung over a large speeding river, piece of cake for a group of highly trained shinobi right?

"So..." Naruto muttered as he and Raiden walked behind everyone. "Why did Sakura bring us along?"

"I don't really know." Raiden smiled.

"Eh!?" Naruto gushed, earning looks from Sasuke and Carver who walked ahead of them. "How don't you know!?"

"Believe it or not, Sakura rarely tells us anything she does." Raiden sighed.

"But-But aren't you guys on a team together?!"

"Yes and no."

"It cannot be both!" Naruto frowned.

"If you haven't noticed, most of our team has died in combat." Raiden looked to the ground as sadness soaked his heart. "It's true we were on a black ops team with Sakura and we all became extremely close but then our members started to die and now that it's just the three of us we rarely go out on missions together. Before we came to your village to defend you guys against those creatures, I hadn't seen Carver or Sakura in months."

"Why is it like that?" Naruto wondered, he couldn't picture not seeing Sasuke or Kakashi for months at a time.

"That is just how things are now."

"You three seemed kind of close though..." Naruto didn't understand this information he was just given.

"We are in our own way." Raiden smiled.

"But wouldn't you want to be with your team!?" Naruto couldn't drop it. "Your team is like your second family!"

"That is where your wrong Naruto."

"How!?"

"Because my team is my family." Raiden answered. "Besides the three of us, there is no one else waiting for us to come home."

"What...?" Naruto breathed.

"Carver's family was killed years ago, way before he stumbled into the Waterfall Village and Sakura found me as my village burnt to the ground. And well...you know Sakura's story."

"I...I had no idea I am sorry."

"Why are you apologizing?" Raiden giggled. "It isn't your fault."

"I know, but I still feel bad."

"You don't need too." Raiden reached out and lightly punched Naruto's shoulder. "We are fine." Naruto looked at Raiden and saw a smile, but he couldn't help but wonder if he was hiding his true feelings.

"Hey!" Raiden and Naruto snapped forward hearing Carver. "We are taking a break." Carver informed,

"Yes!" Naruto cheered; his feet hurt. Naruto dropped down onto the side of the dirt path they walked on as he pulled out a granola bar and his bottle of water. Carver walked over to Sakura who stood a few feet from everyone else.

"Are you sure it is a good idea to bring them along?" Carver whispered to Sakura so only she could hear.

"Hm?" She looked up at him. "Why do you care?"